Achieving School Improvement through Challenging and Changing Teachers' Schema

The importance of changing teachers' beliefsand practices in school improvement efforts iswell accepted but little empirical work hasbeen reported on the micro-processes involved.In this paper, we use schema theory to examinehow the teachers in three schools changed theirbeliefs about the causes of low academicachievement from external factors, such as theparents' and children's deficits, to internalfactors, such as the contribution of their ownteaching practices. These change processes arecontrasted briefly with those in a fourthschool in which the teachers continued to blameexternal factors. The three conditionsidentified as critical for schema revisionincluded the salience of discrepant data, thepresence of an external agent to assist withthe interpretation of those data, and theavailability of information on alternativepractices.     

Student and faculty perceptions of plagiarism in health sciences education

Academic misconduct is a problem encountered by many academic programmes, including programmes in the health sciences. The primary purpose of the present study was to assess doctoral student and graduate faculty perceptions of academic misconduct, specifically plagiarism. We used a cross-sectional survey design, and separate surveys were developed for students and faculty. The student survey measured student perceptions of the prevalence of plagiarism among students in general and assessed the occurrence of each student’s plagiaristic behaviours. The faculty survey measured faculty perceptions of the prevalence of plagiarism among students in general and among students in their courses specifically. Two hundred and thirty-eight students and 92 faculty completed the surveys. Students were doctoral health sciences students enrolled in a campus-based, online or hybrid programme. Compared with the self-reported behaviour of students, faculty believed more students were involved with plagiarism. Self-rated knowledge about plagiarism was significantly higher among online students and faculty than among campus-based students and faculty (p<0.001). Both students and faculty believed the most common plagiaristic activity was citing and referencing a full-text source when only the abstract was read, but only a few students reported personally doing this. Additionally, more campus-based students than online students reported working closely with another classmate on an assignment when they were not authorised to do so (p<0.001). In the present study, surveyed students and faculty believed plagiarism was prevalent among the general student population; however, few students self-reported this behaviour.     

假如给我三天光明

我们大多数人把生活认为是理所当然的.我们知道,某一天我们一定会死,但通常我们把那天想象在遥远的将来.     

The case for using exemplars to develop academic self-efficacy

Abstract

Academic self-efficacy is critical to academic success. Hence those working in higher education need to make deliberate and substantial attempts to foster academic competence, confidence, persistence and resilience in the students they teach, given they are essential components of academic self-efficacy. Addressing an identified gap in the exemplars literature, this article pays particular attention to how exemplars can be used in an embedded and sustained manner with the intent of fostering and supporting these components. Taking into account the three dimensions of self-efficacy – strength, magnitude and generality – and the various sources of information students draw upon to make judgements about their capabilities, four inter-dependent and inter-related practices and associated experiences are identified. We argue that collectively these practices and experiences can accentuate the positive effects and ameliorate the potential negative effects of exemplar use on student academic self-efficacy.     

Reframing Resources in Engineering Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The notion of “resources” is often framed in an economic sense: money, time, equipment and the like. The authors reconceptualise this notion, situating resources as embedded in curricular frameworks, teacher practice and student experience. This leads them to define resources as “the potential to participate in socio-cultural action” which is illustrated in this article through a series of reflections on the part of the authors, all within the context of engineering education. First, they demonstrate that curriculum can be productively thought of as a route marker for the development of resources that students need in order to enact their role as professional engineers. Thereafter, they show that lecturers bring tacit resources of trust, care, creativity and credibility to the teaching and learning space, and that these are necessary to overcome the inertia that often resists the transformation of teaching and learning practice. Finally, they reflect on how students’ prior learning experiences can be harnessed as a resource for teaching and learning. In so doing, they present resources as tied to sociocultural practices and personal and institutional histories, and encourage others to take up these ideas so as to consider how resources, viewed in the authors’ sense, are valued within (engineering) education.     

The Paradox of Case Study

One of the advantages cited for case study research is its uniqueness, its capacity for understanding complexity in particular contexts. A corresponding disadvantage often cited is the difficulty of generalising from the single case. Such an observation assumes a polarity and stems from a particular view of research. Looked at differently, from within a holistic perspective and direct perception, there is no disjunction. What we have is a paradox, which if acknowledged and explored in depth, yields both unique and universal understanding. This paper revisits this problem in case study research. It argues that, with the pressure for quantification and the growth of multi‐site case study design in policy research, the original vision and utility of case study for understanding complex educational phenomena has been clouded and thereby an opportunity diminished for new ways of knowing     

Interpreting pupil participation into practice: contributions of the SEN Code of Practice (2001)

It is three years since the revised Code of Practice for special educational needs (Department for Education and Skills (DfES), 2001) was implemented within schools in England. In this document renewed emphasis was given to pupil participation, building upon and strengthening previous requirements. The inclusion of pupil participation in this document, which governs the ways in which schools must operate, provided cause for optimism by raising the status of the topic and embodying a tool by which to implement the participation rights of the child within the education system. This article scrutinises the sections on pupil participation within the Code for their potential to advance the field. It raises some crucial questions, opening up new areas for debate on the subject. It refers to research insights into participation from the perspective of pupils themselves to illustrate the issues being raised. The article calls for the participation of the pupils themselves to be acknowledged and accounted for, alongside current requirements that professionals encourage pupil participation and account for their perspectives.     

Prolog programming techniques

In this paper we introduce the concept of a Prolog programming technique. This concept is then distinguished both from that of an algorithm and that of a programming cliché. We give examples and show how a knowledge of them can be useful in both programming environments and in teaching programming skills. The extraction of the various techniques is outlined. Finally, we discuss the problem of representing techniques where we conclude that the most promising approach is the development of a suitable meta-language.     

Busy yet passive: (non-)decision-making in school governing bodies

School governing bodies in England have considerable powers and duties, and their formal role positions them as decision-makers. This article draws on qualitative research in the governing bodies of four maintained schools. Using deliberative democracy as a sensitising concept, the article considers some processes by which decisions are made (or not made) in governing bodies. Without claiming that governors never make decisions, it explores constraints and limitations on their ability to do so. Governors exhibit a paradoxical combination of busy-ness and passivity. On the one hand, governing bodies are constituted and structured around activity and technically decisions were made. On the other, decisions could rarely be attributed to active choices by governors. Rather, their more passive agreement with actions and positions was presented as almost unavoidable ‘common sense’, either due to the national policy context or the headteacher’s presentation of the available options.